


The Price

by judelaw



Category: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 06:16:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10916022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/judelaw/pseuds/judelaw
Summary: Power always comes at a price. A price he was willing to pay.





	The Price

Vortigern _had_ to do it.  
  
There was no other way. No way out. No other solution than this.  
Years and years he had spent on figuring out another answer. He went through and endless amount of pages, so many books, entire libraries possibly.  
  
But power always comes at a price. A terrible, horrifying price.  
  
That's why he deserved this power, why he _always_ deserved it.  
  
Because he was willing to pay that price. To make a sacrifice. The greatest sacrifice of them all.  
  
He deserved the power. He deserved to _keep_ the power.  
  
He had to do it. Just as he did years ago.  
_He had to pay the price._

Vortigern slowly opened the door to his daughter's bed room, chirping escaped the room.   
  
A song of pain _\- and death._  
  
Since the night Vortigern put her to bed, as she was crying over the loss of her mother, Catia has always felt secure in this room. She felt safe again, as her father kissed her forehead, reassuring her she'd be alright.  
He surprised her with a little dove the next day. The bird gave her the company she needed, made her happy, so as the years went by he got her more and more birds, partly to hear her laugh again and partly to indemnify.  
  
Of course he never told her what happened that night, what happened to her mother. So she spend the years being scared, frightened of the unknown, fearing the same thing would happened to her father - or to her.  
And he promised she would be alright. That she's save. Promised to protect her.  
  
He couldn't keep his promise.  
  
As he hugged her one last time, tears filled his eyes. His arms pulled her closer, desperate to feel her warmth, her love just once more.  
  
She asked him what's wrong, worry was in her voice. He thought of his wife, his dead, lost wife. Her voice, telling him that everything would be alright again and that she could help him fix whatever needs fixing, kept echoing through his mind.  
  
Catia was scared, he knew she was. How much he wanted to reassure her that everything would be fine. That she was safe and sound. Like he did that night.  
  
But he knew she wasn't. And he couldn't bear to tell her yet another lie.  
  
The only thing he managed to say was nothing but the truth:  
  
_"I love you so much. "_  
  
His hand clung to her. Hopelessly holding on, trying to keep her with him. Keep her alive.  
  
_He just had to do it._  
  
There was no other way. He was sure of it. He thought of every other possibility.  
  
He thought of his wife. His daughter. And of the throne.  
  
The dagger in his hand moved almost ghostlike. Quickly and confident.  
  
Vortigern still hold on to his daughter. On to the last person in his life he truly loves. _Loved._  
  
Tears running down his face like they tried to imitate the blood running out of her wound.  
  
As life was slowly leaving her, it was leaving him as well.  
  
He screamed in agony, felt like the dagger hurt him, not her.  
  
Wished it would have hurt him. Killed him.  
  
But he had to do it.  
  
He deserved the power. He deserved to be king.  
  
Power comes at a price.  
  
A price he clung to. A price that was so hard to let go of.  
  
A price that meant more than giving up a loved one.  
  
It meant to give himself up as well.  
  
But he had to do it.

 


End file.
